The present invention is related to trailers and more specifically to trailers utilized to carry a watercraft behind a towing vehicle.
Some difficulty has been experienced in loading and unloading of sailboats to boat trailers. It has been found that the usually fragile hulls of such boats are easily damaged while being carried on a trailer especially while being loaded and unloaded from the trailers. "Shoal keel" or shallow keel sailboats generally have a rather short elongated stationary keel of considerable weight. With this type of boat, hull strength is greatest adjacent the keel. However, when held on an ordinary trailer, such boats are ordinarily supported on opposite sides of the keel. Previous trailers also have utilized a stationary "form fitting" bunk arrangement that is preformed to conform to the hull shape of the particular boat to be carried. The rigidity of the bunks necessitates that the boat be held in a precise position on the trailer in order that its weight is evenly distributed thereon. Further, because the bunks are concave in shape with the forward and rearward ends pointing substantially upwardly, the trailer must be nearly completely submerged before the sailboat held thereby may be moved onto or off of the trailer. Thus it is often necessary to provide an additional trailer tongue that enables extension of the distance between the trailer and towing vehicle, thereby allowing movement of the trailer into deeper water when necessary. If the trailer is to be loaded onto a submerged or nearly submerged trailer much difficulty is experienced in correctly positioning the boat over the submerged hull engaging members.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,259 discloses a floating boat trailer that includes laterally pivotable hull engaging members. The members however are straight and rigid along their lengths. They will not conform to a rounded hull configuration. Further, movement of the hull engaging members raises and lowers the boat on the trailer framework and does not move their ends laterally clear of the boat hull for loading and unloading purposes.
The present trailer includes longitudinal resilient bunks that are carried for lateral pivotal movement on a central supporting trailer framework. The bunks are therefore free to flex in response to the weight of the boat thereon and to conform to the hull shape. Before the boat is unloaded or loaded, the bunks are separated at their rearward ends, allowing freedom of longitudinal movement of the boat hull. The resilient bunks will flex, preventing accidental gouging of the boat as it is moved onto or off the trailer. When loading, the hull may engage the bunks and bend them slightly downwardly as the boat is pulled onto the trailer. Similarly, when unloading a sailboat, as the trailer is being backed into the water, the bunks will return to a relatively normal flat condition as bouyancy of the boat reduces the load applied thereto. The boat may float freely over the bunks once they return to a flat condition with no danger of the hull scraping against an upturned bunk end. When loaded onto the trailer, the bunks may be pivoted into operative parallel positions in order to provide some support and lateral stability to the boat hull.